Don't be too bullish on Nadal at AO. Just because he's been having a spectacular year, that doesn't necessarily mean that that's going to continue indefinitely.

One interesting development though is that Nole seemed to lose heart in the 4th set at the USO. I haven't seen the lost, defeated Nole in a long, long time. That was interesting. For the last three years, he's been one of if not thee hardest fighter/never say die player on the tour. As I've said, Nole usually eats match points for breakfast. He went down very, very meekly when it got to 1-4 in the fourth.

Perhaps, it was a bad night; perhaps he's lost some of his mental toughness.

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He folded pretty badly against Murray at Wimbledon and against Nadal in Montreal as well, in addition to New York. He just doesn't have the confidence he can beat Nadal and Murray (to a lesser extent) on the big stage anymore.

He folded pretty badly against Murray at Wimbledon and against Nadal in Montreal as well, in addition to New York. He just doesn't have the confidence he can beat Nadal and Murray (to a lesser extent) on the big stage anymore.

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coupled with is the fact that nadal is playing a much more relaxed game these days.

Don't be too bullish on Nadal at AO. Just because he's been having a spectacular year, that doesn't necessarily mean that that's going to continue indefinitely.

One interesting development though is that Nole seemed to lose heart in the 4th set at the USO. I haven't seen the lost, defeated Nole in a long, long time. That was interesting. For the last three years, he's been one of if not thee hardest fighter/never say die player on the tour. As I've said, Nole usually eats match points for breakfast. He went down very, very meekly when it got to 1-4 in the fourth.

Perhaps, it was a bad night; perhaps he's lost some of his mental toughness.

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Novak knew he should have lost in 3-4 max at FO. Nadal sent a message when he said it was like the AO 2012. The difference between the tournaments was that Nadal had been out due to injury, and quite frankly, was rusty. The same can't be said for AO 2012. I do wonder if Novak has fallen into some older patterns.

I wonder which restaurant nadal is going to target in Melbourne in 110 days? he is becoming more and more superstitious with each passing year.

Superstitious Nadal dined way to title

FOX Sports

Talk about a creature of habit.

During his run to this year’s US Open title, Rafael Nadal wanted to keep his mojo going any way possible. According to Page Six, that included eating the same meal as often as he could.

Nadal reportedly munched on Chilean sea bass, fried rice and noodles at Tao in Midtown on the nights he wasn’t playing in the evening. That includes on Sunday, the day before his final win over Novak Djokovic.

On Monday, after he won, Nadal took a group of 20 back to Tao to celebrate. The kitchen reportedly stayed open until 12:30 am for the champ and his posse.

This isn’t the first time an athlete has believed in a specific pregame meal. There have been others, like Usain Bolt (Chicken McNuggets), Paul Pierce (PB&J sandwiches), Wade Boggs (chicken), Michael Phelps (everything), Kerri Walsh (almond butter and honey sandwiches) and Michael Jordan (steak and potatoes).

I don't think nadal is going to sweep the slams in '14. But he will chip away at the number to beat. But when he does pass sampras, can ***** please stop writing threads posing questions like would Nadal "have the weapons" to beat pete. That is a such a joke.

Sampras was blessed to be playing in a flat groundstroke era where he could also come to net and not get slammed by a ball from a poly strung stick.

folks there is no way around it. 2014 is the most significant year in tennis history.

this is the year that will decide if nadal is going to remove Federer permanently for those GOAT discussions that the press and the media so often like to push to sell their stories.

it is clear enough to me that nadal is better than roger. it is not rocket science. there is no way around 21-10. head to head has to matter the most in this individual sport. nadal has him in 6 of 8 slam finals on all 3 surfaces. and he has beaten him a few other times too at slams.

but 17-18 majors for nadal makes it a absolute slam dunk case and effectively shuts down all the Federereeeeeeesian missionary shops around the globe.

so that being said and extrapolating from that, the first slam becomes the single most important slam of 2014:

1. if nadal wins it, his chances of hitting 17 slams skyrocket instantly. remember that 2 is all he needs for 2014 and he is in.

after that he will have 2-3 years to grab 2-3 more.

2. also by winning it he effectively shuts down the nole shop and keeps him in check. this way nadal can continue his assault on tennis history.

all this leads to me to believe that nadal is going after this slam. this is why he has such a brutal schedule ahead. he wants to get as many matches under his belt as possible.

I don't believe he will be stopped. he can meet nole only in the final. and there is no guarantee nole will get there. and this time it will be different if nole does get there. he will be under intense pressure in so many ways.

nadal has figured out nole. it will be near impossible for nole to deal with nadal again in best of 5 sets environments.

so are you ready yet for my most amazing prediction?

say hello to #14 sports fans. it is happening. you can make book on it.

you have the floor. lets get this party started.

have fun and have at it. lets hear what you have to say on this matter.

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Nadal is not winning more than 15 slams and you can quote me on that.

2014

AO Nadal
RG Djokovic
Wimbledon Federer(if he wins it will be his last) or Murray
USO Djokovic